NetFlix has entered India - Will it survive?

After years of waiting the NetFlix has finally made an entry into India. The world renowned streaming service will definitely be a tough competition for the Indian streaming services. With the fact that we already have a good deal of movie streaming services here in India, how do you feel NetFlix will fare?

As of now, the service seems to be a costly deal at Rs. 500 per month. Compared to the currently available breed of streaming services, it is way too much. But, NetFlix has indicated that it may drop the prices soon.

I would invite our techians to share your views on the entry of NetFlix.

I had the chance to test Netflix network as a Beta Tester in my company few weeks before the launch. So here are some of my thoughts -

1. It has large database of movies from around the world. In future copyright issues may limit the movies as many movie makers will expect royalty to run those flicks in India. As in India rule states that you can't run movies for free on streaming. Even hotels in India pay royalty to music association companies for playing music during 31st Dec and other festivities.

2. The amount of bandwidth it consumes can show you that you need really expensive unlimited internet connection. e.g. I streamed one horror Korean movie for 1 hour, which took around 3GB of data. You can guess how much expensive it'd be on mobile. Also the broadband line plans at home would require more expensive plan if it crosses the data threshold.

3. Censorship is rampant in India. And Netflix has reputation of creating or sponsoring shows such as Game of Thrones, Jessica Jones and The Affair. Which has some explicit content, not suitable for kids and even conservative families won't like it. So most probably India will be the first country to censor Netflix.

Survival of Netflix is possible in cities like Pune, Delhi, Bangalore and other metro cities where there is high speed internet connection.

Services like Netflix, Hotstar etc has the capacity to destroy TV because we are forced to watch content on TV. In case of such services, we get control over what to watch and avoid. So Netflix definitely has a future in India, a bit slow growth due to internet speed and censorship. But it'll survive and adapt to desi people.

I think Netflix would be a preferred service for the upper middle class in India where there is a good amount influence of western culture. Once they adapt to it, the middle class will follow and if that clicks, it has a fair chance of survival.But to capture the mass, it just needs to curb down the cost factor and if they include some Indian stuff, the chance would increase.

Netflix has Indian stuff, it is just like YouTube you have choice what to watch. Only thing is that show creators need to negotiate with Netflix on royalties. At the current state, the royalty would be less than TV channels. And knowing that most of the TV channel lobbies won't let good show pass to the Netflix. It has power to include all three classes of society. It's just that it takes time to go native. Price is also not that expensive. Even poor people these days have Dish service charging 600Rs. So it's not that expensive. Only issue is amount of shows that goes to Netflix from TV. Hotstar failed to get many shows into their app. I hope in due time most TV shows would be played on internet, so this is definitely a possibility.

Most of the shows available on NefFlix USA are not available on NetFlix India. This could be an issue in gathering good consumer base. Also it has been indicated that Indian library constitutes just 7% of its US counterpart.Live....and Let Live!

I agree with Mahesh that NetFlix can survive provided there is better internet speed and it is able to overcome the hurdles of censorship policies that quite a few people find to be over the top.Regards,Vandana

Netflix has gone on record that no content will be censored. But, I doubt the possibility - more so because of the rampant censorship that is being overly done quite recently. Hopefully, there would not be that sort of censorship which would kill the creative aspects of the masterpieces.Live....and Let Live!

Couldn't be definitive if NetFlix will survive in India or not, here are few challenges that will definitely be faced by NetFlix:1. The cost of subscription for customers will be playing key role as local service providers are charging as low as Rs. 49 for same.2. Even after 4G service net speed is not up to date which Netflix will require.3. Number of population does not own smart TV or gadgets required.4. Major competitors will be giving hard time to NetFlix such as, Amazon Prime, HotStar

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